2011/06/02: CDreams: One Hoax to Rule Them All: The Hobbit Movie Tar Sands Story RevealedTravellers at Terminal 3 in the Toronto airport were astounded Tuesday morning to see Gandalf the Grey and several hobbits march their handcuffed prisoner Stephen Harper, dressed as the evil lord Sauron, into a Synacrude Ltd. recruiting meeting. They demanded that Synacrude take him back to Mordor aka the Alberta tar sands, “the hell on earth that he created.”

2011/06/03: PlanetArk: Climate Action Faces Legal Gap, No Deal This YearThe world will again fall short of a full climate deal this year, after two past attempts, say developed countries which want a narrower focus on forests and funds at resumed U.N. talks in Germany next week. A fresh postponement will all but end hopes of a binding U.N. deal to succeed the Kyoto Protocol before its present round expires at the end of 2012, leaving a legal gap and possible makeshift arrangements for years. A summit in Copenhagen two years ago was blown off course by world recession and political wrangling. Hopes are now dimmed for a conference in Durban, South Africa later this year.

2011/06/02: PlanetArk: Rich Nations Say On Track With $30 Billion Climate AidEarthquake-hit Japan and many other rich nations are reaffirming pledges to give $30 billion from 2010-12 to help poor nations fight climate change despite budget cuts, a Reuters survey showed on Wednesday. Climate aid has totaled $16.2 billion since January 2010, according to submissions to the United Nations by a May deadline. Poor nations have said much of the cash is from existing programs and is not new as promised.

2011/06/01: EurActiv: [UNEP] chief rattled by Durban climate summit prospectsThe chief of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has plainly expressed his fears of failure at “a very critical moment” in the history of UN climate change talks later this autumn. He spoke to EurActiv in an exclusive interview. “At this point, everyone should be extremely concerned about what we will walk away with from Durban,” Achim Steiner, UNEP’s executive director told EurActiv.

2011/05/31: EurActiv: Ombudsman slams secrecy over Fukushima contaminationFollowing complaints from citizens, the European Ombudsman has opened an investigation into the EU’s permitted levels of food contamination following the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan and their communication to the wider public. Similar complaints are also being heard in France. “Based on complaints submitted to me, it appears that a number of Union citizens perceive a lack of precise and reliable information as regards the changes made to the maximum permitted levels in the aftermath of the Fukushima accident,” wrote EU Ombudsman P. Nikiforos Diamandouros in a letter addressed to European Commission President José Manuel Barroso on 19 May.

2011/05/31: BBC: Japan pensioners volunteer to tackle nuclear crisisA group of more than 200 Japanese pensioners are volunteering to tackle the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima power station. The Skilled Veterans Corps, as they call themselves, is made up of retired engineers and other professionals, all over the age of 60. They say they should be facing the dangers of radiation, not the young.

2011/05/30: CBC: Hard rain delays Japan nuclear cleanup[…]The tropical storm causing the driving rain has already brought flooding to the Philippines and one of the strongest cyclones globally this year — equivalent to a category five at one point, CBC News meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe said. A low-pressure system — the remnant of Typhoon Songda — hung over the Pacific coast and dumped up to 15 centimetres of rain in 24 hours, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

2011/06/05: ABC(Au): Death threats fail to shake climate scientistsA climate change scientist who has been targeted by death threats says the science community must still continue to release the latest research. A number of the country’s top climate change scientists, including several at the Australian National University (ANU), have been targeted by death threats and abusive phone calls for months. But the situation has now worsened, and ANU has moved its scientists to a more secure location and introduced other security measures.

2011/06/04: ABC(Au): Death threats sent to top climate scientistsSeveral of Australia’s top climate change scientists at the Australian National University have been subjected to a campaign of death threats, forcing the university to tighten security. Several of the scientists in Canberra have been moved to a more secure location after receiving the threats over their research. Vice-chancellor Professor Ian Young says the scientists have received large numbers of emails, including death threats and abusive phone calls, threatening to attack the academics in the street if they continue their research. He says it has been happening for the past six months and the situation has worsened significantly in recent weeks.

2011/05/30: BBC: The great ‘Cate Debate’Raging since first thing Sunday morning, I dare say many of you will have already taken sides in the great Cate Debate. For the uninitiated, Cate Blanchett, Australia’s most luminous actress, has made a brief appearance in a television advertisement urging her compatriots to “Say Yes” to a carbon tax. The response from opponents of the government’s controversial proposal, who claim the tax will damage the Australian economy and hit ordinary Australians with increased bills, has been vituperative.

2011/05/30: PostMedia: Underwater survey to bolster Canada’s Arctic domain nears endA High Arctic mapping expedition this summer along a mysterious undersea mountain chain near the North Pole will mark the culmination of a 10-year federal research project aimed at adding millions of square kilometres of ocean floor – potentially an area as large as Canada’s three Prairie provinces combined – to this country’s territorial possessions.

2011/06/01: Eureka: New map reveals giant fjords beneath East Antarctic ice sheetScientists from the U.S., U.K. and Australia have used ice-penetrating radar to create the first high- resolution topographic map of one of the last uncharted regions of Earth, the Aurora Subglacial Basin, an immense ice-buried lowland in East Antarctica larger than Texas. The map reveals some of the largest fjords or ice cut channels on Earth, providing important insights into the history of ice in Antarctica. The data will also help computer modelers improve their simulations of the past and future Antarctic ice sheet and its potential impact on global sea level.

2011/06/02: AllAfrica: FinancialGazette: Zimbabwe: Wheat Production Drastically DeclinesZimbabwe’s tale of winter wheat production has been told over and over again to the extent of getting monotonous. Having declined over the past decade to 12 000 tonnes or less than three percent of the country’s annual requirement of between 380 000 and 450 000 tonnes, wheat production is further expected to drop this year because most farmers have since abandoned wheat farming in favour of potatoes, which are offering better returns.

2011/05/31: WSJ: Share of Population on Food Stamps Grows in Most StatesThe share of residents turning to food stamps has risen in nearly every state nationwide in the past year even as unemployment has moderated. After a temporary plateau in February, the number of Americans receiving food stamps ticked up again in March. Nearly 44.6 million received food stamps in March, up more than 11% from the same time a year ago, the Department of Agriculture said Tuesday.

2011/06/03: BBC: Climate to wreak havoc on food supply, predicts reportAreas where food supplies could be worst hit by climate change have been identified in a report. Some areas in the tropics face famine because of failing food production, an international research group says. The Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) predicts large parts of South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa will be worst affected. Its report points out that hundreds of millions of people in these regions are already experiencing a food crisis.

2011/06/01: NYT: When the Nile Runs Dry by Lester R. BrownA new scramble for Africa is under way. As global food prices rise and exporters reduce shipments of commodities, countries that rely on imported grain are panicking. Affluent countries like Saudi Arabia, South Korea, China and India have descended on fertile plains across the African continent, acquiring huge tracts of land to produce wheat, rice and corn for consumption back home. Some of these land acquisitions are enormous. South Korea, which imports 70 percent of its grain, has acquired 1.7 million acres in Sudan to grow wheat — an area twice the size of Rhode Island. In Ethiopia, a Saudi firm has leased 25,000 acres to grow rice, with the option of expanding. India has leased several hundred thousand acres there to grow corn, rice and other crops. And in countries like Congo and Zambia, China is acquiring land for biofuel production. These land grabs shrink the food supply in famine-prone African nations and anger local farmers…

2011/05/30: CBC: Carbon emissions hit record: energy agencyGlobal carbon dioxide emissions related to energy consumption reached a record high in 2010, according to estimates released Monday by the International Energy Agency. The Paris-based agency said that after dipping in 2009 with the slowdown caused by the global financial crisis, emissions are believed to have climbed to a highest-ever 30.6 gigatonnes. That would be a five per cent increase from the previous record year in 2008, when levels reached 29.3 Gt.

2011/05/30: BBC: Global carbon emissions reach record, says IEAEnergy-related carbon emissions reached a record level last year, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The watchdog says emissions rose again after a dip caused by the financial crisis in 2009, and ended 5% up from the previous record in 2008. China and India account for most of the rise, though emissions have also grown in developed countries.

2011/06/02: Yale360: Forum: Is Extreme Weather Linked to Global Warming?In the past year, the world has seen a large number of extreme weather events, from the Russian heat wave last summer, to the severe flooding in Pakistan, to the recent tornadoes in the U.S. In a Yale Environment 360 forum, a panel of experts weighs in on whether the wild weather may be tied to increasing global temperatures.

2011/06/03: CBC: Huge bomber to douse stubborn Alberta fireThe largest water bomber in the world is flying to Alberta from British Columbia to help fight wildfires in the oilsands region. Alberta Sustainable Resources says the Martin Mars is to begin dropping huge loads of water Saturday on the Richardson backcountry fires. The fires have been burning north of Fort McMurray for about three weeks in a 3,600 square kilometre area.

2011/06/02: BBC: North Canada residents airlifted away from wildfiresCanadian military planes and helicopters have airlifted nearly all the residents of two communities in the Saskatchewan province to safety, after wildfires moved into the region. The last of the area’s more than 1,000 residents were being moved out of Wollaston Lake and Hatchet Lake First Nation early on Thursday morning.

2011/06/02: CBC: Saskatchewan forest fire airlift in last stagesMilitary transport planes and helicopters are airlifting the last of about 1,100 residents escaping a massive forest fire in the remote Saskatchewan communities of Wollaston Lake and Hatchet Lake First Nation. The massive airlift began about 9:45 p.m. CST Wednesday, after three Hercules planes and four Griffon helicopters arrived in the area in the northern part of the province. The communities are about 800 kilometres north of Saskatoon and only accessible by air. The airlifts continued Thursday morning.

2011/06/01: CBC: Northern Saskatchewan fire threatens 1,000Officials hope to evacuate 1,000 people from the northern Saskatchewan community of Wollaston Lake because of a wildfire, but smoke is hampering the operation. A fire, which officials said now covers about 490 hectares (1,210 acres), was close to the community’s airport Wednesday morning and heavy smoke was making it difficult for planes to land.

2011/05/29: BBC: Bubbling sea signals severe coral damage this centuryFindings from a “natural laboratory” in seas off Papua New Guinea suggest that acidifying oceans will severely hit coral reefs by the end of the century. Carbon dioxide bubbles into the water from the slopes of a dormant volcano here, making it slightly more acidic. Coral is badly affected, not growing at all in the most CO2-rich zone. Writing in journal Nature Climate Change, the scientists say this “lab” mimics conditions that will be widespread if CO2 emissions continue.

2011/06/04: CCP: James Hansen: Silence is DeadlyThe U.S. Department of State seems likely to approve a huge pipeline to carry tar sands oil (about 830,000 barrels per day) to Texas refineries unless sufficient objections are raised. The scientific community needs to get involved in this fray now. If this project gains approval, it will become exceedingly difficult to control the tar sands monster.

2011/06/02: BBC: Greenpeace occupation of Cairn Greenland rig endsGreenpeace campaigners who scaled a drilling vessel off Greenland in a bid to stop work have been removed, it has been revealed. The 53,000-tonne Leiv Eiriksson rig is run by Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy. Activists were hanging from the underside of the rig in a survival pod for four days. Greenpeace said the Danish navy had removed the two campaigners. A Cairn spokesperson said there had been no impact on its schedule.

2011/06/02: BBerg: Texas Urges U.S. to Leave Gas Fracking Oversight to States[…]Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Elizabeth Ames Jones said in an interview today that states are better-equipped than the federal government to regulate hydraulic fracturing, the practice of injecting high-pressure jets of water, sand and chemicals into rock formations to release gas and oil. Jones said yesterday that Texas won’t require drillers to disclose ingredients they regard as trade secrets.

2011/06/01: Independent(UK): Pollution fears as UK blocks European ban on fuel from tar sandsThe British Government is unlikely to support an EU push to include tar sands in its new fuel directive The Coalition Government’s claim to be the “greenest government ever” has come under fresh scrutiny from politicians and environmental groups who accuse Britain of undermining a Europe-wide forecourt ban on one of the most climate-polluting fuels. Britain is one of just two major European nations opposing efforts to prohibit sales of petrol and diesel obtained from the Canadian tar sands.

2011/06/01: BBC: Nature ‘is worth billions’ to UKThe UK’s parks, lakes, forests and wildlife are worth billions of pounds to the economy, says a major report. The health benefits of merely living close to a green space are worth up to £300 per person per year, it concludes. The National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA) says that for decades, the emphasis has been on producing more food and other goods – but this has harmed other parts of nature that generate hidden wealth. Ministers who commissioned the NEA will use it to re-shape planning policy.

2011/06/05: ABC(Au): Report outlines worst-case climate damageA new report on the risk of climate change to Australia’s coasts predicts sea level rises could claim thousands of buildings and significant infrastructure by the end of the century. The report, titled Risk to Coastal Settlements and Communities, was commissioned by the Federal Government and assesses the potential damage caused by a worst-case scenario sea level rise of 1.1 metres within 90 years.[…]The report identifies $226 billion worth of assets at risk of erosion or being wiped out. It found up to 274,000 homes are at risk of inundation and erosion along with over 8,000 commercial buildings, and up to 35,000 kilometres of roads and rail around the country. It warns any future developments in coastal areas must take account of potential sea level rises.

2011/06/03: ABC(Au): Warming reception for government climate adviserThe Federal Government’s chief climate adviser Ross Garnaut has highlighted the impact of climate change on Western Australia’s south west in his pitch to sell a price on carbon. Professor Garnaut spoke at a public forum in Perth last night as part of a national tour outlining details of his final report handed down this week. Despite considerable opposition to the carbon tax in WA’s mining industry, most of last night’s packed crowd at the University of Western Australia seemed supportive of Professor Garnaut’s recommendations.

2011/06/02: ABC(Au): Green group backs carbon pricing reportThe Latrobe Valley Sustainability Group has welcomed Professor Ross Garnaut’s final report on pricing carbon. The report recommends a starting carbon price of $20 to $30 a tonne and directs most of the proceeds to low and middle income households.

2011/06/01: PlanetArk: Australia Risks Isolation Unless It Prices Carbon: AdviserAustralia’s top climate adviser said on Tuesday the country faced isolation and potential trade retaliation unless it puts a price on carbon pollution and joins international efforts to fight global warming. In his final report to the government, adviser Ross Garnaut also said Australia should consider a stronger emissions target, and the commitment to cut emissions by 5 percent of 2000 levels by 2020 should be the minimum target. Garnaut said the 2010 Cancun global climate meeting increased the need for Australia to set strong targets, after delegates agreed to limit global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius.

2011/05/31: ABC(Au): Garnaut to unveil carbon compo plansThe Federal Government will get final recommendations today about how it should compensate families for the extra costs of a carbon tax. The Government’s climate change adviser, Ross Garnaut, will today release his final 200-page report outlining how he believes people and industries should be compensated.

2011/05/30: PlanetArk: Analysis: India Takes Unique Path To Lower Carbon EmissionsWith four times the population of the United States, an economy growing 8-9 percent a year and surging energy demand, India’s race to become an economic power has propelled it to No. 3 in the list of top carbon polluters.[…]In the world’s first such national market-based mechanism, called Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT), India is starting a mandatory scheme that sets benchmark efficiency levels for 563 big polluting from power plants to steel mills and cement plants, that account for 54 percent of the country’s energy consumption. The scheme allows businesses using more energy than stipulated to buy tradeable energy saving certificates, or Escerts, from those using less energy, creating a market estimated by the government to be worth about $16 billion in 2014 when trading starts.

2011/06/03: UPI: Egypt, Israel rift over gas cut escalatesEgypt’s cutoff of natural gas supplies to Israel is escalating a dispute over resources that is wrecking the Jewish state’s relations with its Arab neighbor, which, until the fall of President Hosni Mubarak in February, were the linchpin of the Middle East peace process.

2011/06/02: ChronicleHerald: Governments slammed for incoherence on climateCanadian governments head off in all directions when it comes to tackling climate change, a new tally of provincial and federal environment policies shows. The end result is a disorganized, inefficient approach to greenhouse-gas reduction which won’t allow Canada to meet its goals, say researchers at the Conference Board of Canada.

2011/06/01: Independent(UK): Pollution fears as UK blocks European ban on fuel from tar sandsThe British Government is unlikely to support an EU push to include tar sands in its new fuel directive The Coalition Government’s claim to be the “greenest government ever” has come under fresh scrutiny from politicians and environmental groups who accuse Britain of undermining a Europe-wide forecourt ban on one of the most climate-polluting fuels. Britain is one of just two major European nations opposing efforts to prohibit sales of petrol and diesel obtained from the Canadian tar sands.

2011/05/30: PostMedia: Feds considered hiring PR firm to polish image of oilsandsThe federal government has explored hiring a professional public relations firm and organizing trips for international leaders to promote Canada’s oilsands industry, while fighting back against foreign climate change policies requiring it to reduce its pollution, a newly released federal document has revealed. The action plan, prepared by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, also suggested hosting an “annual retreat” of its oilsands advocacy team in London to plan a strategy to help boost the image of the industry that has developed an international reputation, as a result of campaigns launched by environmental groups, for producing “dirty oil.”

2011/05/30: PostMedia: Oilsands emissions data left out of UN reportFederal government admits deliberately leaving numbers out that indicate pollution from oilsands production outstrips auto emissions The federal government has acknowledged that it deliberately excluded data indicating a 20 per cent increase in pollution from Canada’s oilsands industry in 2009 from a recent 567-page report on climate change that it was required to submit to the United Nations. The numbers, uncovered by Postmedia News, were left out of the report, a national inventory on Canada’s greenhouse gas pollution. Overall, the report revealed a six per cent drop in annual emissions for the entire economy from 2008 to 2009, but does not directly show the extent of pollution from the oilsands production, which is now greater than the greenhouse gas emissions of all the cars driven on Canadian roads. The data also indicated that emissions per barrel of oil produced by the sector is increasing, despite claims made by the industry in an advertising campaign.

2011/06/03: PostMedia: Oilsands greenhouse gas emissions shot up in 2009: Environment CanadaAfter days of discussions with an oil and gas industry association, Environment Canada has confirmed a substantial rise in greenhouse gas pollution from the oilsands sector in 2009, along with data that casts doubts on whether the industry can continue to reduce emissions per barrel of oil produced. While overall emissions from the sector rose by 11 per cent in 2009 — a new calculation based on revised Environment Canada estimates for oilsands emissions in 2008 — department spokesman Mark Johnson said the data indicated “very little change in the total emissions intensity in oilsands” in 2009. The details on the rise in emissions for the sector were left out of an inventory report on greenhouse gas emissions submitted by Canada to the UN. But they were released gradually over the past week by Environment Canada through a series of emails in response to questions from Postmedia News. The department declined all interview requests, except for one with a department official that was cancelled at the last minute without explanation.

2011/06/02: CBC: Environment Canada layoffs spook civil servantsMore than two dozen Environment Canada employees have received layoff notices, spurring fears among federal civil servants that thousands of job losses loom as the government struggles to balance its budget. The notices were handed out this week to at least 28 scientists at the department, said Bill Pynn, president of the Union of Environment Workers, a branch of the Public Service Alliance of Canada. The personnel were all contract employees, many of them nearing permanent status.

2011/05/31: BCLocalNews: Metro Vancouver may be hit with a second carbon taxAny move to fund TransLink expansion with carbon tax revenue would be by creating a new “regional carbon tax” that would be charged in addition to the existing one, according to Transportation Minister Blair Lekstrom. He was responding to NDP questions in the legislature last week after Premier Christy Clark indicated the government would consider using a share of carbon tax revenues — a longstanding request from the regional mayors council. Lekstrom, however, said the province won’t share revenue now collected through the current carbon tax but would instead consider creating a second Metro Vancouver-only version.

2011/06/02: CBC: Oilsands production to grow sharply: reportTotal Canadian oil production is expected to increase by two-thirds by 2025, with the oilsands contributing a growing share of the total, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said Thursday. The industry group’s annual forecast is predicting production of 4.7 million barrels of oil a day by 2025, up from 2.8 million in 2010. The oilsands will account for more than three-quarters of 2025 production (3.7 million barrels/day), up from just over half (1.5 million b/d) last year.

2011/05/29: PostMedia: Trade Mission: China targeting tens of billions in Alberta oilsands investmentAlberta government and business leaders who sat down with Chinese energy executives this week were told tens of billions of dollars in new oilpatch investment will flow in the coming years – if export capacity issues in Canada are improved. Finance Minister Lloyd Snelgrove said Sunday that senior officials from Chinese state-owned oil firms anticipate future investment will dwarf – potentially tripling – what they have already spent in Canada’s energy sector in recent years. In the past 18 months alone, Chinese oil companies have pumped more than $13 billion into developing crude oil and natural gas prospects in Western Canada.

2011/06/04: CBC: Slave Lake residents sign waiversSlave Lake residents who lost their homes when a forest fire ripped through the community last month are being asked to sign waivers before returning to their lots. The waivers absolve the town of responsibility if someone gets sick or injured.

2011/06/01: CBC: Higher oil price prompts increased drillingHigher-than-expected oil and gas drilling activity in Western Canada led the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors Wednesday to increase its forecast for the total number of wells to be drilled in 2011. It now expects the total to be 13,128, an increase of some 1,300, or 11 per cent over the 11,811 wells it anticipated in its project released in October.

2011/05/29: CCurrents: Facing The New Dark Age: A Grassroots ApproachAbstract: Despite four decades of detailed warnings, industrial civilization has failed to turn aside from self-destructive policies of exponential growth and dependence on nonrenewable resources. At this point, stark limits of time and resources as well as a failure of political will make attempts to prevent the fall of industrial society an exercise in futility. Individuals, small groups, and communities can still prepare for the approaching crises by mastering low-tech survival skills now to lay foundations for a sustainable society in the future.

2011/06/03: PlanetArk: Oil Firm Files Lawsuit Against Arctic ProtestersUK-based Cairn Energy has filed a legal action in the Netherlands, seeking damages of up to $2 million a day if Greenpeace protesters again disrupt the explorer’s drilling plans offshore Greenland. A Cairn spokesman said on Thursday the action was intended as a deterrent after Greenpeace ended a four-day protest which involved protesters hanging suspended from a drilling rig in a plastic pod.

2011/06/03: PlanetArk: Groups Sue To Stop SunPower Plant In CaliforniaTwo conservation groups and a California resident have sued to stop construction of a SunPower Corp solar power plant, saying the project would harm the rural area’s wildlife, air quality and natural beauty. San Luis Obispo county community groups Carrizo Commons and North County Watch and local farmer and auto repair shop owner Michael Strobridge filed the lawsuit on May 20 in California state court. In court papers, the plaintiffs said county officials did not adequately analyze the 250-megawatt California Valley Solar Ranch’s impact on the area’s aesthetics, air quality, biological resources, noise, traffic, greenhouse gas emissions and agricultural resources. The suit asks that the county be ordered to set aside its approval of the California Valley Solar Ranch and that the project be declared unlawful.

2011/06/01: DeSmogBlog: New York Attorney General Sues Over Lack Of Fracking StudiesAttorney General Eric Schneiderman of New York has filed a lawsuit against the federal government for failing to properly study the effects of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) before granting permits to gas drillers. The lawsuit seeks to stop fracking in the Delaware River Basin until a comprehensive analysis of the dangers is performed by the government.

2011/06/04: PostMedia: Project seen hiking U.S. oil ‘dependence’ — Bureaucrats hail $13-billion pipelineA controversial $13-billion pipeline project originating in Hardisty, Alta., will accelerate U.S. addiction to Canadian oil, says a newly-released report from Natural Resources Canada. “The Keystone XL project is seen as both furthering U.S. dependence on oil, and enabling more oilsands crude to enter the U.S. market,” said the document, released through access to information legislation. The document, which assessed the ongoing debate about the project in the U.S., noted a growing opposition that was stalling the U.S. State Department from issuing the presidential permit required to authorize the project. “Although the Keystone XL pipeline was certificated in Canada in late April 2010, the company continues to wait for approvals in the U.S. before it can begin construction,” said the report, obtained by Ottawa researcher Ken Rubin. “This … has been caused by U.S. opposition to imports of ‘dirty’ Canadian crude oil from the ‘tarsands’.”

2011/06/03: CBC: TransCanada blocked from restarting U.S. pipelineThe U.S. pipeline safety agency has blocked a Canadian company from restarting its Keystone oil pipeline until U.S. officials are satisfied the company has made required repairs and completed safety tests. The order Friday by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration cites two leaks in May on the 2,100-kilometre pipeline…

2011/06/02: CBC: New wind farm to study energy storageThe Wind Energy Institute of Canada on P.E.I. is building a new wind farm to study how to use the electricity it generates when the wind is not blowing. There are currently no commercial-scale storage solutions for wind energy operations, meaning the electricity must be used as it is generated. The Institute is building a five-turbine, 10-MW wind farm near North Cape, and will test whether it can successfully store some of the electricity for future use.

My first novel Water was published in Canada May, 2007. The American release was in October. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Forewordand the Launch Talk(which includes some quotations), An overview of my writing is available here.